Turn of the Century: The Long Blondes

“When we were in London recording the record I found that really exciting.” So did that inspire the new album? “Actually some of us are moving down to London because we like it so much,” Kate admits. “I just like walking around and looking at urban areas, just walking around the shops as much as where we live. I do like the old 30s ex-council flats in London and taking lots of pictures of those. I find all that kind of stuff really exciting, just walking for hours and hours and hours taking pictures.” If you didn’t know already, Kate produces all of the artwork for the band’s releases. It pretty much sums up her arguably unrivalled sensitivity, passion, flair and grace in a field where such qualities are rare and laudable. “It’s white with two halves of a zebra on it. It’s influenced by the Monty Python cartoon,” The Long Blondes’ singer says of the artwork for ‘Couples’. “It’s cute, it’s really different.”

Let it not be forgotten that The Long Blondes have enjoyed huge success and praise in a very quick time, from their initial proclamation: “We do not listen to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors or Bob Dylan. We chose an instrument each and learnt to play it.” So how’s Kate dealing with that very world of fame, and can she provide any anecdotes? “Hmm… me and Dorian were sitting at the bar [at Primavera Sound] and Johnny Marr and the guitarist from The Buzzcocks (Pete Shelley) were there”, she eludes. “They were chatting about guitar sounds for ages and we were sitting there in silence listening in and going ‘oh my god!’, so that was quite weird! It’s strange when stuff like that happens. Like we were backstage at a festival and there was Bez, Kele from Bloc Party and Borrell milling about – it’s always a spectacle.”

It’s a point to note that Kate doesn’t see herself in that genus of ‘person to be gawped at’ in the slightest – she’s dealt with the industry pretty well. And was it weird that being female was such a stigma for critics everywhere around the release of the first album and subsequent touring? “I don’t think it’ll be the case anymore because there’s so many other women out there who are far more successful than we’ve been in the past. Like Kate Nash, Amy Winehouse and Beth Ditto from The Gossip. Hopefully we contributed a little bit towards making women equal in music.” She’s a sensible one, and that’s certainly a truth.

So how will someone so switched on deal with reactions to the new album that she’s so proud of?  “I’m a bit nervous -I want people to like it,” she discloses. “I think we’ll get good responses, though it is really different to our first record. I think we’ve moved on and grown a lot musically, and I think people’ll appreciate that.” Kate Jackson is captivating, and the band are constantly growing and now have the polish and variation to match the glamour. It makes ‘Couples’ an exciting prospect, and introduces The Long Blondes as a different project altogether; one here for the long-term and one in possession of a gem of a second album.